ly, but it must not therefore be
supposed that it was easy of arrangement, on the part of the high
contracting parties, whose tongues were unavoidably useless in the
consultation.

Krake proved himself to be the most eloquent speaker in sign-language,
and the manner in which he made his meaning intelligible to the savages
was worthy of philosophic study. It is, however, quite beyond the
powers of description; a great deal of it consisting not only of signs
which might indeed be described, but of sounds--guttural and otherwise--
which could not be spelt. We are constrained, therefore, to leave it to
the reader's imagination.

At the feast an immense quantity of venison and salmon was consumed, as
you may easily believe, and a great number of speeches were made by both
parties--the men of each side approving and applauding their own
speakers, and listening to those of the other side with as much
solemnity of attention as if they understood every word.

There were two points of great interest connected with this feast, which
we must not omit to mention. One was, the unexpected arrival, in the
middle of it, of the old chief, Whitepow, in a canoe, with Utway and a
few of his principal men, and his grandson Powlet. These were hailed by
both parties with great delight, because they formed an additional bond
of union between them.

It had been arranged by Karlsefin, for the sake of security, that the
savages and Norsemen should not intermingle, but that they should sit in
two distinct groups opposite to each other. Whitepow, however, ignorant
of, or indifferent to such arrangements, passed over at once to the
Norsemen on his arrival, and went through the ceremony, which he had so
recently acquired, of shaking hands all round. Powlet also followed his
example, and so did Utway. They then sat down, and the latter did good
service in the cause of peace by making an enthusiastic speech, which
the Norsemen could see, from his pantomimic motions, related to his own
good treatment at their hands in time past.

Powlet also unwittingly aided in the same good cause, by running up to
Olaf and bestowing on him a variety of attentions, which were all
expressive of good-will and joy at meeting with him again. He also
shouted the name of Snorro several times with great energy, but Olaf
could only reply by shaking his head and pointing towards the hamlet
where Snorro and the women had been left under a strong and trusty
guard.